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tv   CNN Newsroom  CNN  March 24, 2012 12:00pm-1:00pm EDT

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josh levs thank you very much. >> thanks. thank you everyone for watching. as always i love to hear what you think, find me on facebook or twitter. "cnn newsroom" continues right now with fredricka whitfield. >> now your day begins in another way. part two of your day. >> yes. you have a good one. >> good to see you. thanks so much. of course there's a lot of public outrage over the trayvon martin shooting. that continues to grow. protesters are rallying around the country this weekend demanding justice for the death of the unarmed florida teen. live in sanford, florida where george zimmerman shot martin in self-defense. you saw pictures there of the reverend al sharpton and a number of the protests, that one in new york. there are others across the country. holly, what's taking place there in sanford? >> well, basically, fredricka, the latest we heard is from former governor jeb bush.
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he was governor in 2005 when this stand your ground bill was written into law. that's the law that allows somebody, a civilian to use deadly force if they feel their life is threatened. now, in this case where george zimmerman has been claiming stand your ground, he says this is not exactly the case. this was not the intent. take a listen. >> it appears to me this law does not apply to this circumstance. stand your ground means stand your ground. it doesn't mean chase after somebody who has turned their back. >> now, in response police chief bill lee who has temporarily stepped down released a written statement on the city's website. he gave the reason they were using stand your ground in this situation. here is what he said. zimmerman's statement was that he had lost sight of trayvon and was returning to his truck to
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meet the police officer when he says he was attacked by trayvon. so fredricka, at this point, it's going to be up to investigators. they are looking into it. also attorney general eric holder has asked the fbi and the justice department to take a look at this incident to see if this might have been racially motivated and if there could be federal charges brought against the shooter george zimmerman. >> and holly, zimmerman's attorney now is speaking out for the first time on cnn. what is he saying? >> reporter: yeah. his attorney told us basically that george zimmerman is in hiding. he's told him to lay low. he's received death threats. he says he's concerned for the safety of him. we asked him point blank was this racially motivated, was his client a racist, he said absolutely not. he is concerned should there be charges he might not get a fair trial. here is what he told us. >> i hope there's a way to rein things in so it doesn't become
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an issue of a racial battle. i hope that things come back so there can be a time for justice and for healing and not for just skipping the whole judicial process and going straight to sentencing. i'm hoping we can all -- that can work together in that way. >> reporter: now, we haven't heard a lot about george zimmerman, where he is. even his attorney craig sonner said he doesn't know where he is. he hasn't met with him in person. he's spoken with him on the phone. he says he doesn't have a lot of details about the case. he couldn't really speak to that. he said if charges are brought, en he will look into the investigation, fredricka, that's ongoing right now. >> okay. earlier, just before we came to you, we saw reverend al sharpton at a rally in new york. a number of rallies taking place across the country. what's your understanding as to how it's being organized, how it's unfolding. >> yeah. actually there's a rally planned
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here this afternoon by the new black panther party down at police headquarters. we know there's rallies happening this afternoon in washington, d.c., norfolk, virginia, charlotte, north carolina. trayvon martin's parents and family are asking everybody to get involved, to keep this in the news, keep people talking about this until they want charges brought against george zimmerman. meanwhile people are getting heated about this. we just found out not too long ago that someone has been arrested for threatening sanford police chief bill lee, threatening him and his family because of this case, fredricka. so this will be ongoing for quite sometime. >> holy firfer, thanks so much in sanford. it's elicited a lot of conversations. a lot of people are speaking out and trying to do what they can to help draw attention to this investigation. celebrities, too, are reacting to the trayvon martin controversy. actor will ferrell tweeted this. r.i.p. trayvon martin.
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for every retweet this gets $1 will be donated to the trayvon martin foundation which helps counter-act racism. it elicited a lot of comments. presidential candidates are weighing in. some are blasting president obama for his comments on the trayvon martin shooting. in his first public statement on the controversy explained -- the president rather explained why the shooting hit home with him personally. >> if i had a son, he'd look like trayvon. you know, i think they are right to expect that all of us, as americans, are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves. >> newt gingrich called the president's comments, quote, disgraceful and accused the president of dividing the country by turning the tragedy into a racial issue. rick santorum also weighed in on the incident during a rao
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interview. >> and then, his, again, politicizing it. this is, again, not what the presidents of the united states do. what the president of the united states should do is try to bring people together, not use these types of horrible and tragic, individual cases to try to drive a wedge in america. >> santorum is the front-runner in today's primary in louisiana. the latest polls show him with a double digit lead over mitt romney and newt gingrich. twenty delegates up for grabs. a live report from new orleans straight ahead. often it's the unscripted moment that gets a lot of attention on the campaign trail. you're about to see video of senator santorum shooting at a rifle range as part of his campaign stop. listen carefully with me to what someone in the background is saying.
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>> so it's not entirely clear, but you do hear a woman say, pretend it's obama. santorum was quick to slam that comment. >> not pretending anybody. shooting pistols. you know, very deplorable and terrible remark. i'm glad i didn't hear it. >> the secret service has confirmed it and is investigating that incident. stories making headlines around the world now. pope benedict xvi on the second day of his first official visit to mexico. he celebrate add private mass this morning and is scheduled to meet with mexico's president tonight responding to reporters questions about the role the church has in fighting mexico's drug violence. the pope said it's the church's responsibility to unmask the evil of drug trafficking. we're getting a look inside the bullet riddled apartment of a man accused of killing seven
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people in three separate attacks in france. you can see the bullet holes in mohammed merah's apartment. merah was killed in a police shoot-out at the end of a 32-hour siege in toulouse thursday. prosecutors in paris say he had more than 20 bullet wound. they have been questioning his mother, brother and his brother's wife to determine whether he acted alone in the attack which killed three paratroopers, a rabbi, and three children. more than a year after a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit asia, an astounding stoef discovery. warned off the coast. the trouler has been adrift since march. it's sound and no leaks. they have identified the owner and are monitoring the vessel for possible marine pollution.
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tragedy today back nng country in charleston, west virginia. that's where eight people have died in a house fire. we're told six of the victims are children. they were reportedly sleeping over after a birthday party. he says it's the most tragic event he's seen in 26 years with the department. no word yet on how that fire started. is louisiana a must win for rick santorum and a last stand for newt gingrich? we're going to take you there live for the latest on today's primary two minutes away. so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol
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what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. all right, folks in louisiana are casting their votes as we speak but republican presidential candidate rick santorum is away campaigning in pennsylvania.
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he's expected to win big in today's primary in louisiana, but that still won't help him catch up to mitt romney in the delegate count. so could this be santorum's last stand? joe johns joining us from metairie, louisiana, outside new orleans. joe, what is the latest there? who is spending time in that state today? >> reporter: yeah. well, i've got to tell you, fred, when you look at the state of louisiana, it certainly appears that rick santorum is going to do pretty well here. voters going to the polls in the primary. the latest arg, american research group poll, shows santorum with a double digit lead in the state, really sort of looking like a good fit for him with the conservative voters, the evangelical voters. strong showings by those folks here in the state of louisiana. newt gingrich the other very conservative candidate in the race kind of falling off a bit in the state of louisiana even though it's a southern state.
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mitt romney really just not much traction here in the state of louisiana, even though, in fact, he's leading in the latest national poll by double digits. actually reached the 40% mark, which is something of a threshold for him. not catching on in louisiana at least according to the polls we're seeing fred. >> you mentioned voter turnout is kind of low, thin. is that typical for a primary season in louisiana, or is this an unusual year that turnout would be so low. >> no. fully expected by the people i've been talking with in the state of louisiana. they really did not expect many surprises. a lot of people thought rick santorum frankly was just going to do very well here. no surprises so far. plus the weather is pretty good so people can come out on this saturday if they want to. we haven't seen a lot of them here. could change, of course, by the end of the day. don't want to predict too much. >> right. you know, it's tough to predict in these six but that's a good
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part of what politics is, predicting. earlier we've heard rick santorum said it was disgusting and divisive the president would weigh in on the raven martin case. santorum said the president is supposed to be a healer and help people come together. why do these candidates feel like it's appropriate or feel compelled to comment on the trayvon martin case in this way? >> first, i think i'd have to be remiss if there weren't two sets of comments. there's one set of comments about the trayvon martin case in itself. i think mitt romney sort of spoke for all of the candidates when he said it was inexplicable, can't understand it. the authorities are doing the right thing trying to get to the bottom of it. so you have that set of comments about the case itself. but things sort of shifted when
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the president of the united states weighed in and started talking about it. that's when you hear reactions from santorum and newt gingrich essentially suggesting that the president was politicizing the case. now, if you sort of take that notion and overlay it here in the state of louisiana, well, the politics of louisiana, which is where the primary is right now, are such that the people you talk to, conservatives and evangelicals, will tell you the one mantra they have -- in fact i heard a voter say a few minutes ago, anybody but obama. so if a candidate is talking about the president he's a republican trying to get elected in this state. if he's going to be complimentary of the president, it might not get him too much. so it's not that surprising to see them being critical of the president during a political year. >> you talk about complimenting the president, is anyone saying
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anything in louisiana about rick santorum's comments where he talked about not wanting to vote for mitt romney if he were the nominee. instead being more inclined with what some people interpreted as saying obama. >> yeah, that's gotten a lot of traction here in the state of louisiana and elsewhere. conservative bloggers writing about it. rick santorum really got so much criticism because, again, people here -- if you look at the exit polls from so many primaries, again and again you see one thing, that people want to elect someone, the conservatives do, who can beat the president in an election. so yeah, he really got a lot of criticism over that. he actually had to step back those remarks as you know to clear it up, he's guy who is going to vote against president obama in the general election. >> all right. thanks so much from metairie. we'll be seeing you throughout the afternoon and into the evening because we'll be looking for results from today's primary
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in louisiana. we'll look at politics all the way around tomorrow at 4:00 eastern time. we'll dedicate an entire hour to it. on this two-year anniversary of president obama's health care overhaul, the u.s. supreme court will hear arguments on whether the sweeping changes are constitutional. a preview on that in three minutes. [ male announcer ] what if we told you that cadillac borrowed technology from ferrari to develop its suspension system? or what if we told you that ferrari borrowed technology from cadillac to develop its suspension system? magnetic ride control -- pioneered by cadillac, perfected in the 556-horsepower cts-v. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs.
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on the two-year anniversary of president obama signing his affordable health care act into law the measure will be challenged before the u.s. supreme court. on monday the justices will hear arguments on whether parts of the law are unconstitutional. kate bolduan has a preview. [ applause ] >> reporter: march 23rd, 2010, president obama signs into law the signature law, the controversial health care
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overhaul. >> after all the votes have been tallied, health insurance law becomes law in the united states of america. >> reporter: within hours states across the country filed lawsuits challenging the law. >> this is about liberty. it's not just about health care. >> reporter: led by florida, 26 states argue the law's central provision is unconstitutional. the so-called individual mandate. it requires every american to purchase health insurance by 2014 or pay a penalty. opponents say the constitution's commerce clause does not give congress the power to force individuals to purchase a commercial product like health insurance they may not need or want. he's arguing on behalf of the states before the supreme court. >> these issues are really central to whether the federal government can regulate anything it wants to. >> reporter: the government defends the sweeping reforms arguing medical care is not a choice, that every american will need health care at some point
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in their lives. they also say the tens of millions of uninsured americans are costing everyone else more. $43 billion in uncompensated costs in 2008 alone according to government figures. >> no one is saying there's a right to free load off one's neighbor when you decide not to choose health insurance. >> reporter: the stakes only grow larger with the supreme court taking the case just months before an election. >> if i'm president we're getting rid of obama care and returning to freedom. >> reporter: the election year blockbuster has again turned the spotlight on the justices themselves. as with the bush v. gore case will justices be criticized for letting politics creep into the courtroom. >> they have political overtones. i think the justices will put them to the side. the legal stakes are so high that i don't think they will pay attention that much, if at all,
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to the fact it's occurring in an election cycle. they have just got to get the case right. >> what we're talking about here is four separate issues being argued for six hours over three days. that rarely happens and shows just how important this case is. even after these marathon public sessions, we still won't know the final outcome for likely three months. kate bolduan, cnn, at the supreme court. our legal guys are standing by to help us go through the supreme court arguments, the time line starting monday. as we go live to break, however, i want to show you pictures of a rally in washington, d.c. pretty sizable in the shadow of the capital building. there protesters are demanding the repeal of that health care reform law ahead of the u.s. supreme court argument. much more after this. oating? get ahead of it! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defend against digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. hit me! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. i like yoplait. it is yoplait.
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on a rainy day in the nation's capital perhaps a heated prelude to the legal arguments soon to be played out right behind the u.s. capital building at the u.s. supreme court. so before the break, we spelled out the parts of the federal health care law about to be challenged before the supreme court come monday. let's continue now with our legal guys avery friedman, a
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civil rights attorney and law professor in cleveland. and criminal defense attorney and law professor joining us as well. >> hi, fred. >> avery, you first. before arguments over the mandate, all that stuff plays out, first the justices have to actually decide whether they have the authority to decide this case. explain. >> that's exactly right. the first of three days of argument will be whether or not an 18th century law bars courts from having jurisdiction like this. i'm so excited about these arguments. on tuesday we're going to get -- >> should be excited. >> that's what i do. that's the big day that will deal with the big issue, that is whether or not this laundry list of powers given to the congress by our founders under article 1,
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section 8, the commerce clause, can properly hold this law which requires an individual mandate, individual responsibility, the hour to hold the law constitutional. that's where this case is really going to turn. the first question you ask, fredricka, is very legitimate. but the focus will be on tuesday. >> okay. that's where we talk about the individual mandate. richard, you say if it, indeed, becomes the case, or the argument is successful that this tax penalty comes with this individual mandate, then that really could mean the demise of the entire health care provision. yes? >> it could be, fred. you know, with a five-four republican majority in the supreme court you would think this is a shoe-in for this health care reform to get blown away, but that's not going to be the case. i would be shocked if the supreme court turns doubt this health care. with roberts and kennedy being
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the swing votes here and if we look at some of the earlier decisions they have made and look recently to the d.c. court of appeals which upheld a sixth circuit case addressing health care, these supremes look very seriously at the d.c. court of appeals. i believe they are going to uphold this legislation. i don't think they are going to believe it's an improper grant of congressional power. i don't think the supremes have not since fdr got themselves involved in cases like this one. they are going to say congress should be the ones to remedy the statute. >> richard, what you're reminding us of, d.c. judge the right to be free from federal regulation is not absolute and yields to the imperative that congress be free to forge national solutions to national problems. if the national problem is not enough people have access to affordable care, isn't that at the root of what this affordable care act was all about?
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might that not only be reargued but kind of substantiated, too, that it's working. >> exactly, fred. let's step back for a second. when president obama ran for office, the bedrock of his entire campaign was i'm going to put in a health care plan and he won by a resounding victory. he put in health care. here it is. >> it's not a political argument. >> to me where the focus should be we look at the origin, genesis of the individual mandate and essentially universal health care, it actually originated with the heritage foundation, a conservative think tank. people like newt gingrich and others when it came out thought it was a bad idea. now all of a sudden obama care is the law, all of a sudden they are against it. those are political issues. in terms of the constitutionality this rises or falls fredricka this rises on
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the commerce clause. that's where the court will focus in. that's why tuesday of monday, tuesday, wednesday is the day to watch, want to see what's going on. >> fascinating stuff. we'll see you again in 20 minutes, guys. we have a lot of cases klug this extraordinary case out of california. we're talking about a woman who was raped by her husband. he actually was convicted, served time and now she's ordered to pay alimony because she was the breadwinner of the family. you'll help us understand how the law supports that and how she is also trying to play a role rin drafting a bill. all that straight ahead. we make our coffee with it. but we rarely tap its true potential and just let it be itself. flowing freely into clean lakes, clear streams and along more fresh water coast line than any other state in the country. come realize water's true potential. dive in-to the waters of pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org.
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a look at your top stories. former florida governor jeb bush is speaking out about the death of trayvon martin. neighborhood watch volunteer george zimmerman shot and killed the unarmed 17-year-old claiming self-defense. it's raised questions about the new law, stand your ground. jeb bush signed it into law in 2005. >> it appears to me this law does not apply to this particular circumstance. stand your ground means stand your ground. it doesn't mean chase after somebody who has turned their
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back. >> sanford florida police chief bill lee posted a statement on the city's website explaining his department's decision not to arrest zimmerman. he says, quote, zimmerman's statement was that he had lost sight of trayvon and was returning to his truck to meet the police officer when he says he was attacked by trayvon. end quote. tragedy today in charleston, west virginia where eight people died in a house fire. we're told six of the victims were children. they were reportedly sleeping over after a birthday party. he said this the most tragic he's seen in 26 years with the department. the sergeant accused of going on a shooting rampage in afghanistan could be sentenced to death. sergeant bales faces 17 counts of murder. accused of killing afghan civilians in a remote village. bales faces 10 counts of attempted murder and two assault charges.
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actress nicollette sheridan sued mark cherry but her wrongful termination lawsuit didn't go the way she hoped. our legal guys will be weighing in on that next. before we let you go to a break, in this shifting job market, here is some advice for baby boomers. learn to reinvent yourself. senior business correspondent christine romans today's smart is the new rich. >> green shoots. have you heard this phrase? imagine the forest floor after a wildfire, eventually little seeds start to sprout again. that's what's happening in the american economy. as the sprouts in the american economy take root it's up to you to reinvent yourself for the new growth ahead. we're talking reinvention with somebody many started your morning with, i certainly did, jane pauley anchored nbc "today" show. she's now the host of reinvention series, your life calling. you profile people reinventing
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themselves. is there a common denominator, personality trait to hold onto to reinvent. >> the good news is there. the bad news is i have none of those traits. the traits i would look for are volunteering. people with a history of volunteering find reinvention easier. people who are eager to learn new things. it may not be a degree, but learning new things people who have hobbies and outside interests tend to find reinvention more easy. and as i said, i'm not one of those -- any of those categories. >> so many people are afraid of reinvention, especially working towards something for 20 years. now you think here i'm at the peak and the world is changing around you. >> whether it's opportunity or necessity, because for some people they have reached a point in their career where it just feels like, get me out of here. i've gone as far as i can go, i'm trapped. now what? or if it's you've got a pink
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slip. either way you're looking at a blank page, like the cursor with blink, blink, blink, no ideas. i subscribe to the test and learn philosophy. i have all the books, five-point plans, ten-point plans. trial and error, exposing yourself to possibilities, ideas that you would never had have yet. frankly, for some people what comes out the other side after a period of time, one, two, in my case it was really three years before i got something kind of going again, and that's fairly typical, that thing on the other side you hadn't thought of yet is the right one. >> thank you, jane. for smart is the new rich, i'm christine romans. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future.
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on our most popular models. with the incredible deals you'll find... ...you're gonna want to hurry in for this one. ♪ [ male announcer ] the great savings won't last long. don't miss out. [ male announcer ] engine light on? come to meineke now for a free code scan read and you'll say...my money. my choice. my meineke. all right. in california, a man rapes his wife, goes to prison and then upon release will receive alimony from her. the ex-wife wants this law changed. our legal guys are back, avery friedman in cleveland, richard herman in las vegas. all right, guys. this is a pretty bizarre case, is it not? it seems unusual. richard, you first. talking about this couple, sean and crystal harris.
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they were married. she was able to win the backing of the court that her husband raped her and he served time. because she was the breadwinner, however, and the way the law states, she has to financially help support him once he's out. is that about right? >> that's about right. we have our uc davis paralaels working on this one, fred. listen, he was entitled to receive alimony. the award of alimony because she was basically the breadwinner in the family because they were married several years. the alimony structure was supposed to be $3,000 a month in alimony. because of the domestic abuse and convictions, the judge reduce thad to $1,000. that family court judge could have reduced it to zero. they had the discretion to do that. they decreased it from $3,000 to $1,000 and directed her to pay $47,000 in legal fees for this husband who attacked her brutally and got convicted.
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>> a law that prevents the judge from reducing it to zero, stated simply by virtue of the fact she made most of the month she has to pay him something and a reduction is all he could do. avery? >> well, i think that's the general rule, fredricka. but in california and in many states, if one spouse is convicted of murdering another spouse, then there's no alimony, which frankly i'm not even sure makes sense. what needed to be done in california and what will happen is that crystal will take her case. she has gone to the legislature in sacramento and the law will be expanded to prohibit alimony if you're a victim of sexual assault or rape. that's justice and that's what needs to be done in most states. it does not exist that way. have you to take that discretion away from the family court judges, fredricka, in order to avoid this kind of terrible result. >> so the effort this young lady is trying to make here, richard,
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is that there would be a new drafting of the law, a new bill she's trying to work on so that no one would be put in the same situation that she is being put in. what are the chances of any success on that? >> i disagree with avery. i don't think this law is going to be passed. as crazy as it sounds. >> what? >> let's face it, she was brutally attacked by this guy and now she's having to pay him alimony. >> come on. >> it sounds ridiculous. i don't believe -- they are a family court, matrimonial divisions that don't it. i don't think it will be passed. >> talking about the nicollette sheridan case. she was suing the creator of the show, "desperate housewives." she said she was unjustly removed from that job. but now the jury in some part did kind of side with her
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argument but apparently they were split, deadlocked, the judge says mistrial. avery, did the judge give up too soon? should the jury have had more time to work it out. >> the judge did it exactly right. from the beginning of deliberations, the jury came back and said we can't come to a result. you need nine jurors, nicollette got eight. it's got to go back. you know what, i think what was really intriguing here was eva longoria and felicity were supposed to testify for defense. they never and. the real question are you going to see star power if the case doesn't settle. >> do you believe, richard, there will be another attempt to get this back in court? >> i think at this point because of the 8-4 polling of the jury, i think there's probably going to be a settlement here, freda confidential settlement. if it does go, let's face it, 8-4 in favor of nicollette sheridan.
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the jury did not buy the defense. the jury did not like the defense witnesses. they didn't trust their testimony. there was nothing to corroborate it. they thought it was too scripted. when jurors get a sense of that, this is what you get. >> maybe not the settlement she had been hoping for. remind me again, how much was she seeking? >> like $6 million. it made no sense. >> i remember there was a six in there and millions -- millions and millions. >> millions and millions. >> okay. all right. thanks so much, richard, avery, appreciate it. good to see you guys. >> you know, what remember, this was a case we talked about last week actually, the polo tycoon who adopted his girlfriend allegedly to protect his girlfriend. as you guys know the case closed. a jury found him guilty of vehicular manslaughter. >> no surprise. >> no surprise there. i know you called it. for a crash that killed 23-year-old scott wilson two or
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three years ago. what are you thinking? >> real 20 years he's facing. >> he could be given 20 or the maximum of 30 years in prison when he is sentenced and that will be april 30th. i'm sure we'll be talking about that. thanks so much, gentlemen. good to see you. see you next time. the tragic death of a florida teen has sparked outrage over a state law. we'll tell you what that law was all about, how it came about, how it is expected to work and what kind of reaction or movement there might be for a possible repealing of that law after the break. my friends say that it's like i'm driving a spaceship. the body style and the interior design... everything is really cool, but more than anything i love the gas mileage. i don't even know what it's like to really stop and get gas. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. probably less. you should get a volt because it's going to save you a crap load of money. [ laughs ] ♪
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we've been talking about the tragic shooting death of florida teen trayvon martin. police have not arrested neighborhood watchman george zimmerman because he said he was defending himself. florida's stand your ground law says a person can use deadly force if he's threatened and in public places. former representative and florida state senator joins us now from miami. good to see you. back in 2005 as a lawmaker, you voted against stand your ground. you said back then you were worried the law would have negative consequences. is the death of trayvon martin exactly the kind of case you
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feared would happen. >> well, yeah. prior to 2005, we had a perfectly good self-defense law. there were no victims or people who claimed they had been treated unfairly by that law. so in 2005, governor bush signed into law a bill that essentially took out of the law any requirement that a person in broad daylight outside of their home, as this case suggests has to deescalate a situation or walk away if you can. >> what precipitated this law everything and to be fine and this new law came into place. what was the impetus for it. >> i think it was really the nra who really won every major battle in florida wanted potentially -- does these fringe issues where they really don't have anything to do with a real victim. we asked every proponent of the law just give us that single person unfairly prosecuted,
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unfairly convicted or acquitted who shouldn't have been. nobody could point to a single person in the state who fell into this category. >> is this your view this is a shoot first law? i heard those words from urban league saying this a shoot first law and ask questions later. in this case he and others are exemplifying not enough questions are asked. >> listen, i don't want to throw red meat into something not fair. i don't think people do stupid or malicious things because of this law. but people that do stupid and malicious things have a defense they should not be entitled to because of this law. mr. zimmerman is going to have the ability to muddy up the waters in this because of this law and he shouldn't have. he clearly did something wrong. he clearly, if that young man's life means anything it means justice has to be done here. he's going to be able to have a defense in this case, or at
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least start one, apparently the detectives initially believed he had one because of this law. >> now that former governor jeb bush has weighed in and said this was not the intent of the law. it didn't appear based on all public accounts, iwitness accounts that george zimmerman was being pursued by trayvon martin, instead the other way around and this law may have been misused in this case, do you believe that is impetus enough for a real movement to try to repeal this law? if so, what will it take? >> i think the stand your ground part of the law has to be repealed. we didn't need that law. it was unnecessary. it was a solution in search of a problem. obviously this case and others, by the way, it's been used 100 times in florida since 2005. i think the legislature, they are in session next week on a special session. they ought to just stay there an extra day and repeal it. it made no sense to pass it. it's giving defendants in cases a defense they should not be
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entitled to. it devalues life. because the truth is, you ought to be able to -- you should be obliged to deescalate a danger situation. deadly force shouldn't be your first resort and it is allowed to be under this law. >> dan, thank you so much for your time. former representative and former state senator coming to us from miami. appreciate your time. perhaps you're looking for ways to save on your next car. the top deals that you don't want to miss coming up at 2:00 eastern time.
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well, hopefully it's feeling like a nice, sunny spring day where you are because there's severe weather other places. meteorologist reynolds wolf is with us now. >> parts of the state of georgia, southeast weather will be rough. parts of the eastern seaboard seeing scattered showers in eastern great lakes, philadelphia, washington, d.c. in parts of georgia and southward into the carolinas, even florida, we see a couple of severe thunderstorm watches in effect until the early evening hours. what we're seeing to the west, something different. rain in the valleys, up in the mountains and snowfall. across the nation's midsection a beautiful day in dallas, highs in the 80s, chicago 74 your high in atlanta and back top san francisco, 50s and 60s. fred, back to you. >> thanks so much. 3:00 eastern time, hot travel gadgets to help you plan your next vacation. at 4:00 eastern time making it your job to surf the

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